Chapter Text
Halloween in the Black Hat Organization Manor went one of two ways, but it always started out the same. During the day, Flug was drowned in last minute product requests and orders. It was a good day to be evil. With so many civilians out in costume a villain could easily blend into crowds, and minor crimes that sometimes came with casing a place for theft or illegal entry could be overlooked and attributed to prank-happy children. A lot of these villains made plans in the heat of the moment, and therefore the day before or the day of the holiday, so during the day Flug would be working his fingers to the bone trying to get as much done as possible. The calls would die down by late afternoon and it was then that the day could diverge into a few different options.
Some years, Black Hat Organization threw grand Halloween Gala’s. Only the richest and most powerful could hope to attend and for a night, they could bask in the presence of the Lord of the Manor. Many hoped for mere glimpses of their infamous host. As an employee, Flug was expected to work during these galas. He traded his lab coat for a stuffy tux and made sure everyone had enough to drink and that the snack table wasn’t decimated. After the party, he and the Hat-Bots would begin the arduous process of cleaning up. These were his least favorite Halloweens.
Other years, Black Hat made plans independently of his employees. On these nights, when the boss was out at some event thrown by someone else, Flug, Demencia, and 505 had an evening to themselves. Tonight was going to be one of those nights, and Flug was already looking forward to enjoying some sweet solitude to work on his pet projects. Demencia and 505 were going out this evening. Pranking people and trick-or-treating respectively. They were off getting ready now, letting Flug start on his evening.
Carefully, Flug opened a locked cabinet at the very back of the lab. All of his most volatile and rare materials were stored in this particular unit and it was bolted into the wall so firmly that Demencia could jump up and down on it and the thing wouldn’t budge an inch. He still tread carefully while he took out a footstool and used it to reach and pick a glass container from the top shelf. Inside the container was a small scroll of paper, giving off a vaporous purple magic. Flug smiled at it as he climbed down and locked the cabinet up tight. A nice quiet night to build something that had been nagging at the back of his mind. This was going to be a good halloween. Maybe if he got this pet project done tonight, Black Hat would even be pleased with it. Maybe he’d get some recognition for his work. He got to work immediately, pulling out his extensive notes on the artifact in front of him. It was a paper inscription for use in making golems. Prepped and ready to go by a warlock, it was already seeking something to give life to. As long as the paper inside stayed intact and away from any earth or metal, he was assured it would stay that way.
He had been tinkering with the design of a ray device that would streamline the process of golem making. The creatures made excellent minions as long as you used a sturdy material in their creation, but it took a lot of magic to make golems. More magic than your everyday villain would possess. Of course that meant it was time to turn to the much more reasonable option. Science wins again, as it always does! Flug was happily making adjustments to the device itself when the door to the lab opened. The horrifically imposing creature that was his Lord and Master strolled into the lab with as much interest as one might give walking by a tree they passed every day on their way home.
“G-good evening, Lord Black Hat, sir!” Flug raised a hand in a salute, keeping it there just long enough for Black Hat to give the customary grumble that signified he was tired of watching Flug make the gesture.
As Black Hat seemed to inspect the lab, likely making sure that Flug had been working as expected up until this time, the Doctor turned to continue fiddling with his gadget. By the time the door opened again, he was carefully attaching the glass container to its top. He barely looked up as he heard 505 make a pleased noise to greet him, but he did manage to tear his eyes away from the little project when he heard Demencia follow him in. The lizard woman was dressed as a witch, and was picking at 505’s pumpkin costume as she teased him.
“Better be careful, Bear!” She announced loudly. “Someone might mistake you for an actual pumpkin and carve you and put you on their porch!”
Upon hearing his furry son’s frightened response, Flug sighed and turned fully, with the device in hand. “Demencia! Leave 505 alone! He deserves to have a good night too!”
“Oh like you , nerd? Aren’t you staying in tonight? Working away your pitiful life instead of enjoying the one holiday we get for mischief ?!” Demencia was rolling her eyes so hard, they might as well have unscrewed themselves and fallen to the floor.
Flug glared at her. “I’ll have you know that I’m actually doing something useful tonight, instead of wasting my time terrorizing the neighborhood children!” He waved the hand with the device in it, gesturing wildly, before quickly pulling it back near his body for safety. He couldn’t drop this. It was barely held together.
“What dumb toy are you making now?” Flug watched as Demencia approached him, her heterochromatic eyes fixed on the device in his hand.
“Oh no you don’t! You’re not touching this!” He turned his body away from her, shielding the bit of technology as he glared at her. He should have known that would only be a challenge to her. One she would enjoy taking him up on. Flug had barely managed to brace himself before Demencia leapt at him, scrambling to find purchase on his skinny frame as the Doctor curled his body around the device. He was scrambling himself trying to stay upright with this deranged woman climbing on him.
“Get off!”
“Just let me see it already!”
“Don’t you dare touch-”
“You’re only making this harder on yourself!”
“Demencia!”
“Nerd-!”
“ENOUGH”
Black Hat’s roar shook the lab. Flug had honestly forgotten he was in the room. This memory mistake was fixed for him in short order. Black Hat was clearly annoyed, and had grown at least another 5 feet. He was looming over them in a way that made even Demencia stop in her tracks. Tendrils and darkness radiated off him, adding to the effect of the posturing.
Flug was thrown to the ground as Demencia lept off him. He fell forward, making a quick decision not to land on his fragile device and to push it out away from his body. Unfortunately, pushing turned into more of a desperate toss, and the machine hit the ground a few feet away from Flug. Right in front of Black Hat’s dress shoes. Flug heard a crash of glass, and then a heartstopping crunch that could only have been the internal power source he had installed. He didn’t waste time double checking his theory before curling into a ball where he could try to protect his neck and head. Flug’s instincts served him very well. The device exploded into smoke and arcing electricity split seconds after he had covered himself. He heard shrapnel zoom across the room, more glass shattering, and the thick noise of the material imbedding itself into the metal walls. Then he heard the only sound worse than the decimation of hours of work. He heard his boss scream with rage.
Flug was ripped off the ground by what could only be one of Black Hat’s tentacles. As his eyes snapped open to take in the seething, red-eyed demon face his boss was fixing on him, he saw what had made the eldritch particularly angry. The tentacle holding Flug had been severed. It was growing back even now, a tip taking the place of where there had been a bleeding end, but Flug knew he was not going to be forgiven just because Black Hat could effortlessly heal the minor injury.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Black Hat shook the Doctor slightly, his sharp teeth bared in a fearsome snarl.
“I-I’m sorry Jefecito!!” Flug clasped his hands in front of him in a pleading motion. As best he could while the life was being squeezed out of him, that is. “It was an accident! I dropped the project when Demencia jumped off of me!” Flug wheezed as the tendril tightened around him. “I’m s-sorry sir! It won’t happen again, Sir!”
“No it will not!” Black Hat carelessly tossed the Doctor across the room, where Flug landed with a loud thud against the wall and fell to the floor. He was pretty sure he had a cracked rib, and he could feel a sharp ache settling into the shoulder that had been the first contact with the wall. He stayed perfectly still, frozen in fear of his monstrous boss.
“You will clean up this mess and get back to work on the projects I have assigned to you!” Black Hat was now in his more human shape again, dusting some smoke off of his overcoat as he snarled. “I will not have you wasting any more time on these pitiful side projects!” The eldritch marched out the lab door. With Demencia gone, it left only 505 and flug in the lab. The bear approached with a concerned noise, and Flug managed to pull himself off the floor. His eyes swept the lab again. There were bits of metal sticking from the wall, and several glass containers had been shattered, including the one that had been holding the golem scroll. The parchment lay on the ground, torn from the explosion and no longer radiating it’s life-giving magic. Bits of its shattered glass containment unit were scattered around it, some coated in Black Hat’s acidic green blood.
The Doctor sighed as he managed to pull himself up from the floor. He assured 505 he was okay before he began the task of cleaning the lab. He looked forlornly at the parchment as he picked it up. Even if he had not just been forbidden from working on the project, the destruction of the bit of magic needed to power the device would set him back weeks. Maybe even months. He grimly dropped it into a hazard bin with the rest of the debris. So much for getting something extra done. So much for making his boss even the slightest bit proud of him. He hated Halloween.
Under one of the lab’s large, sturdy tables, the tip of a tentacle squirmed with life.